Agri-scholarships to assist tertiary study

Growing up on a sheep and beef farm, St Paul’s Old Collegian Hugh Jackson (Sargood 2012-2016) has been interested in farming since a young age.

His passion for the industry and the agri-sector in general led him to enrol in a Bachelor of AgriCommerce at Massey University, and since leaving St Paul’s last year he has been awarded two scholarships to assist his tertiary studies.

Hugh first received an Undergraduate Scholarship from Beef + Lamb New Zealand at the start of the year. The B+LNZ Undergraduate Scholarship helps students who are studying at Massey, Lincoln or Waikato universities in the fields of agriculture, science (including food technology), business and social science disciplines towards careers in the livestock, meat and related agribusiness sectors. The scholarship is for up to four years and pays the full annual tuition fees, up to $5,000 a year.

To add to this, Hugh recently received a Plate to Pasture Youth Scholarship from Silver Fern Farms – who awarded six of these scholarships to young people from around New Zealand who are developing their careers in the red meat, food and farming industries. The scholarship recipients each receive $5,000 to further their careers in the sector.

While only in his first year of study majoring in Farm Management, Hugh is already looking ahead to the future and is keen to pursue a job as a rural banker before getting into farming. “I don't want to go farming straight away, I feel it would be beneficial to do something else first and apply the knowledge I gain from that experience to farming later,” he says.

For Hugh, his time at St Paul’s played a major role in setting him up for this career path. He was involved in numerous Agri-competitions and challenges including the New Zealand Young Farmer Leadership Pathway Programme and he was part of the group that was named the ‘Young Inventors of the Year’ at Fieldays 2016.

“St Paul’s had a huge hand to play in helping me gain these two scholarships through the opportunities the school gave me such as, developing an innovation product in my Agribusiness class for exhibiting at Fieldays, as well as through the great teaching and academic resources available that enabled me to achieve higher academically.”

For more information about the Beef + Lamb New Zealand Undergraduate Scholarship, click here and the Silver Fern Farms’ Plate to Pasture Youth Scholarship, click here